The invention relates to a trolley designed for use as a conveying trolley for conveying products, in particular foods and drinks for sale, comprising a frame provided with wheels and carrying one or more containers.
Such a trolley is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,349. Said trolley comprises a frame provided with castors, and having a rectangular unitary cabinet structure. On top of the cabinet a plurality of liquid dispensing units are mounted, accessible for service from both front and rear sides. Hot drinks are contained in containers on top of the trolley and are prepared in advance, whereas the cold drinks are fed from the inside of the trolley by means of CO.sub.2 -pressure. Further a fixed ice chamber is present. No provisions are made for containing and distributing hot foods. This known trolley has a number of disadvantages. In the first place, it is relatively unstable, as rather large quantities of hot beverages are present in containers on top of the trolley and no provisions are made for containing hot foods. The hot drinks are prepared in advance and carried in insulated containers, which means a limited distribution time. Coffee in particular relatively soon acquires an unpleasant taste. Finally, the number of the drinks which can be carried on such a known trolley is very limited, since the dimensions of the trolley cannot be great due to the requirements in use.
Said trolley is used for selling or distributing beverages at conventions, conferences, meetings and similar occasions. The purposes thereof is to be able to serve a large number of beverages in a very limited time. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages and to provide a generally improved trolley for conveying products, in particular food and drinks for sale. To that end the invention is characterized in that the containers (A-D) are or can be placed one above the other in the frame, the frame in the bottom thereof having a fixed water supply container with insulation and heating means. A pump with battery supply is also present for conveying the water heated in said container to one or more tap points, and the containers (A-D) are selected from:
(i) an insulated heat-conserving container with heating means; PA1 (ii) an insulated cooling container; PA1 (iii) an additional insulated hot water container which is to be coupled to the fixed water supply container, and which may or may not be provided with heating means; and PA1 (iv) a supply container which may or may not be insulated.
The invention provides a trolley in which hot foods can be kept hot by using heating means and cold foods or drinks can be kept cold for a long time, and the hot drinks and liquid foods can in each case be prepared fresh from hot water and an extract. The trolley according to the invention is also extremely stable, in particular as the fixed water supply is situated in the bottom thereof. This water supply has generally already been brought to a temperature which is suitable for making coffee, tea, soup or the like. Since the drinks are prepared at the place of sale, excellent quality thereof can always be ensured.
The heating means are preferably exchangeable. This makes it possible to select whether or not to make a container carry out a heating function, with the result that the layout of the trolley or the function of the containers in use can be varied as desired.
The cooling container advantageously also comprises exchangeable cooling means which can be designed, for example, in the form of cooling elements to be placed in the cooling container or a cooling mechanism to be connected to the cooling container, supplied by, for example, a battery or a fossil fuel.
One or more of the containers are also advantageously exchangeable, which means that for replenishment thereof the particular containers in the trolley itself do not have to be cleaned and refilled. Instead, while the trolley is in a filling center, the containers can be removed from the trolley in their entirety, including their heating or cooling means, and filled containers can be placed therein. The layout of the trolley can also be varied as desired as regards the containers. For example, an additional hot water container, possibly having its own heating means, can be coupled to the water supply container and used if it is expected that a large quantity of hot drinks is going to be sold. This applies mutatis mutandis to the other containers.
The trolley according to the invention has the major advantage that it can operate autonomously for a longer period without the disadvantages described above occurring. The layout of the trolley can also be altered in many ways without too many complicated operations, all this being due to the exchangeability of the heating means, the cooling means and/or the containers themselves.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the heating and cooling means are interchangeable. In a further preferred embodiment, the heating means are in the form of a catalytic burner and the trolley is provided with one or more supply containers for a fossil fuel such as butane gas. In another preferred embodiment, at least one of the tap points is connected to supply means for adding an extract (such as coffee, tea, drinking chocolate, or soup, for example) to the water. A further preferred embodiment provides a temperature gauge and a return pipe near each tap point so that when a difference between a set and a measured temperature of the water exists, one or more valves in the return pipe are opened to return the water to the supply container until the set temperature has been reached. Gauges may ideally be provided in any of the embodiments for measuring the temperature and the level of the water in the supply container, monitoring whether or not the heating means are working, and measuring the charge condition of the battery supply of the pump. The gauges can be connected to a control unit which can deliver regulating or warning signals depending on the values measured by the gauges.
The invention also provides a lifting device, designed for raising, a trolley according to the invention to a desired height, the lifting device, at least comprising a scissor mechanism for moving a carrier face in the vertical direction, which is characterised in that the scissor mechanism comprises a belt drive. Said lifting device is particularly advantageous if the trolley is to be used in trains or other vehicles. The trolley can easily be raised to a desired height by means of the lifting device, without undue physical effort on the part of the user, following which the trolley can be wheeled off the lifting device into the train or other vehicle. As is known, platforms and trains are usually not at the same level. The lifting device can also be used to move the trolley from a high level to a low level, for example when it is being taken from the train.
The belt drive is preferably in the form of at least one belt, and in particular two belts which are connected by means of guide rollers to the bearing surface, and which are accommodated in columns fixed hingedly on either side of the lifting device. The belts can be moved by winding onto a common winding shaft, which winding shaft can be driven by a crank connected thereto.